Just a quick note: I will be on vacation when this review posts. I
may not or may not have internet access during vacation, but I will
play catch-up with your blogs and comments when I get back.

Most stories that I've read are generally about people competing with others, but Derek Kirk Kim asks us a different question: what if the person you're trying to up is actually yourself? What kind of person do you want to be and if you saw future self, how would you embrace yourself? All of these philosophical questions and more are discussed in the part coming of age/fantasy, romantic comedy graphic novel called Good As Lily.

Description: Following a strange mishap on her 18th birthday, Grace Kwon is
confronted with herself at three different periods in her life. The
timing couldn't be worse as Grace and her friends desperately try to
save a crumbling school play. Will her other selves wreak havoc on her
present life or illuminate her uncertain future?

Review: Grace Kwon's friends throw her a surprise 18th birthday party with a
picnic in the park. There they meet a strange vendor who refuses to sell
them ice cream, but sells them a pig-shaped pinata instead. When it
finally breaks after falling on Grace's head, she learns that it's
empty much to her disappointment. Later that night, when she returns to the park, she meets a
little girl, a young woman, and an old woman who look eerily like her. It turns
out that all of them are named Grace Kwon at different parts of her life, a six year old toddler, a woman in her twenties, and an elderly woman. Now Grace must deal not only with the philosophical
concept of encountering her past and future selves, but also with the
day-to-day chaos that they create. Each of Grace's selves are dealt well for the most part as the child stealing snacks,
the senior citizen smoking cigarettes, and the young woman hitting on
Grace's drama teacher. I would have liked the three selves interact more with Grace herself but they are kept at a distance. Grace, the teen, is naturally confused and
exhausted seeing her past and future go out of control. The black-and-white pictures are simply drawn, but manage to
convey all the emotional highs and lows of this story. The title refers
to a subplot so small that readers might not recognize the reference
until they've finished the book and taken some time to digest it. Part coming of age, part magical realism, and part romance, Good as Lily has different things to offer different readers.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Words of Caution: There is some sexual innuendos in the book. Recommended for Grades 8 and up.

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